The dominance-contiguity theory of the acquisition of classical conditioning.

The purpose of this article is to present a formulation of the "dominance-contiguity" theory of the acquisition of classical conditioning in the light of a new treatment of old research and the large amount of new research relevant to the theory. One of the conclusions drawn was "that contiguity is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for classical CR acquisition and that drive reduction is neither necessary nor sufficient for it." 668 item bibliography. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Terms in Conditioning (?).

This is a comment discussing the ambiguity of the term unconditioned and the desirability of using it in the sense of undone, unlearned, or extinguished, Back (Amer. Psychologist, 1959, 14, 595-596). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on the use of the terms conditioning and reinforcement.

The "… term conditioning was originally used… to denote the behavioral fact that a stimulus inadequate for some response could become adequate by virtue of being combined one or more times with a stimulus adequate for the response… . The situation at present is as follows. Conditioning is being used as an all-covering account of both Pavlovian and Skinnerian learning which by all tokens are quite distinct—and even divergent—from each other methodologically, operationally, behaviorally, and functionally. And reinforcement, in its turn, wields four different meanings." The author claims that "… not only is such a mixing of terms in itself unjustified but in twenty years has hardly caught on beyond the reign of its immediate proponents." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology in communist countries other than the USSR.

Discusses the prevalence of Pavolvianism in Communist countries other than the USSR. The author asserts that Pavlovianism is being propagated with full force throughout the Communist world--through numerous translations of Soviet textbooks, special magazines devoted to the dissemination of Soviet science and culture, special Pavlov pamphlets, specially convoked Pavlovian conferences, large-scale intervisiting of Soviet and other Communist countries' psychologists and psychophysiologists, and other means and media of influence. There is not a semblance of doubt that Soviet theorists are determined that there be only one psychology in the whole Communist world and that this psychology be the one of Pavlov. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A direct laboratory comparison of Pavlovian conditioning and traditional associative learning.

24 adult human Ss were presented with a learning task which combined salivary conditioning with traditional associative learning: paired-associate learning of a 50 word Russian-English vocabulary and serial motor learning of a sequence of 100 adjacent bolts. Conditioning proceeded best when Ss did not know they were being conditioned, while associative learning was reasonably effective when Ss knew what they were associating. The view is expressed that the present data support strongly the hypothesis that Pavlov's laws of conditioning are primarily laws of unconscious biological learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Backward conditioning.

Experimental evidence on backward conditioning is evaluated critically and a theoretical integration of these experiments, conducted in Russia and in the United States and using both animal and human Ss, suggests unmistakably that "… backward conditioning is not a case of pseudo-conditioning but is a genuine CR-associative manifestation, and that stable backward CR's can be obtained and maintained under favorable experimental conditions." For backward conditioning to be facilitated the US should neither be too strong nor should the CS be too weak. While the formation of backward conditioning does not appear to be harmonious with the CR theories of Guthrie, Hull, or Tolman, it is suggested that it may be accounted for by the author's position of "dominance-contiguity." 44 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Growth, scope, and direction of current Soviet psychology: The 1963 All-Union Congress.

A comparison of papers delivered at the 1959 and 1963 Union Congresses indicates that "research in the discipline known as psychology in the Soviet Union… more than doubled in quantity in the last 4 yr. As of 1963, using a paper-read index and also a publication index, Soviet psychological research" is almost equally divided between (a) applied educational action research and (b) research that might be called basic." The basic research is almost equally divided among 3 areas: (1) engineering and information psychology, (2) traditional experimental human psychology, (3) comparative psychology engaged mostly in the study of "higher" functions in primates and in psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

1957 and 1958 Russian books in psychology, psychophysiology, and related areas in psychiatry.

"I have in my possession 51 Russian books in psychology, psychophysiology, and related areas of psychiatry—24 published in 1957 and 27 in 1958." The increased quantity of Russian books "is by all tokens being matched by a rise in quality." The "most outstanding books are in psychophysiology and not in psychology proper… . I would be glad to lend my books to Russian-reading psychologists planning published reviews." An annotated list of the 51 books is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Russian physiologists' psychology and American experimental psychology: A historical and a systematic collation and a look into the future.

Sechenov was the originator of the basic theoretics of Russia's distinct physiologists' psychology. Pavlov and Bekhterev were its experimental verifiers and validators. Watson's Behaviorism arose as an independent development of American experimental psychology but interacted almost immediately with Russian-opened new experimental vistas. The vast influence of the English translations (1927 and 1928) of Pavlov's 2 conditioned reflex books on American psychological systematics is fully discussed, as is also the distinctness of the Pavlov system vis-à-vis specific American systems and American psychology in general. The language barrier is shown to be a unique factor in Russo-American experimental and theoretical parallels and divergencies. Brain behavior is the keynote of current Soviet physiologists' psychology and is increasingly dominating recent American experimental psychology. Significant Russo-American rapprochements in the basics of psychology seem imminent. (4-p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)